


Becoming real

by Flexor



Category: RWBY
Genre: So many references!, rabbits everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-20
Updated: 2015-10-20
Packaged: 2018-04-27 07:41:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5039791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexor/pseuds/Flexor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Velvet the Rabbit Faunus gets blown away by bombs while trying to rescue a little rabbit.</p><p>This, I'm sorry to say, is not so much a deep insight in the mind of the Rabbit Faunus as it is an attempt to cram as many references to rabbit stories as I possibly can into a fairly short story.</p><p>Can you spot them all?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Becoming real

Velvet Scarlatina opened her hands, and a tiny little brown rabbit looked up at her, a bit dazed, snuffled a few times, then hopped off. Velvet tried to get to her feet, but her legs were made of jelly and red spots danced in front of her eyes, blotting out the world. This wasn't working. Still, she had to move. A rabbit has to move. Unable to walk, she crawled. Rabbits are not like cats. They don't always land on their feet. Especially not when there's a big boom and you go flying. She was in pain, but strangely, it didn't upset her. There was this girl Velvet, and she was hurting, but it was almost like that girl was someone else. Poor girl. Velvet looked ahead. There was a shadow ahead of her, some shrubs. Good. Velvet desperately wanted a little rest, but you can't rest out in the open. The elil will get you. The Thousand are always hungry, and when they catch you, they will kill you. Keeping her eyes on the welcoming safe shadows ahead, Velvet dragged herself on, until with a smile born of achievement, she had disappeared under the nice thorny leaves. Must have a nap. Velvet laid her head down on her arm, and closed her eyes.

 

"Velvet's missing!"

Coco Adel looked round as if she expected her Faunus friend to be lying on the ground somewhere near. Other teams started gathering round, brushing the dust off themselves.

"So _this_ is what a 'Danger Close' fire mission is." Blake Belladonna ran her fingers through her hair to get the leftover bombs out. "Were they _trying_ to hit us?"

Ruby Rose held her hand over her eyes and looked at the craters. "They did get the depot and the bunkers. No more White Fang attacks. At least not for a while."

" _Hey!_ " Coco snapped her fingers. "Velvet. She's missing."

Fox Alistair put a brown scarred hand on Coco's shoulder. "Would you like me to go look for her?"

"Very funny," said Coco.

"What happened?" said Blake. "We were all taking cover and she was right next to you."

"She got up and ran out," said Yatsuhashi Daichi. He had tried to grab her, but Velvet at a full sprint was nearly impossible to catch. The bombs had done it, though.

"She could be _anywhere_ ," said Yang Zhiao Long, a worried expression on her face.

"She could be _everywhere_ ," said Weiss Schnee.

Coco shot Weiss a filthy look. "We've got to go find her. She may be hurt."

"Can't stay here too long, though," said Ruby. "White Fang are going to find out what happened, and ask us to stop please."

"Let's split up and go look."

 

Velvet suddenly coughed, and saw there was a dark puddle on the ground in front of her face. Was that _blood_? Was that _real_ blood? _Her_ blood? How did that happen? Just this morning she was back at Beacon, looking at Farmer Fred's vegetable patch, full of nice juicy lettuces, and thinking how unfair it was that _she_ wasn't full of nice lettuces. Now she was under a thorny bush, hurting, bleeding. It suddenly occurred to her what she was doing here. She was dying. The little rabbit would live, but the big rabbit would die with her face in the sand. Velvet didn't like it. If she was going to die, then she would much rather die looking at the stars than looking at the ground. Velvet liked the stars and the moon. Every star was another sun, maybe with another Remnant, and other people. So many people.

Velvet took a few quick breaths, then closed her eyes tight and turned onto her back. The effort almost made her faint again, but she made it. High above her, just visible through the branches of the thorny bush, a star winked at her. Velvet smiled. They knew from class that stars didn't blink. It just looks that way because the air moves and shifts and throws the light about. But it was possible to know that, and still believe that the star was winking at her. She moved her head a little, and could just see the moon. She remembered the little nut brown rabbit she had just managed to catch before the bombs hit and smiled.

"Right up to the moon and back," she whispered.

Velvet lay on her back, looked at the moon, and waited for all the stars to go out.

 

"If she's hurt," said Fox, "then she'll go to ground." He was walking next to Coco. Yatsuhashi had split off, to cover another sector. Fox, for very good reasons, couldn't do that.

"I know. Dammit girl, where _are_ you?"

Coco wanted to yell. She wanted Velvet to know that they were looking for her. But it was too dangerous. They had tried calling her phone, but Velvet hadn't answered. Signal out here was sketchy as it was.

This was supposed to be an exercise, but as there was a real White Fang depot to blow to smithereens, it had been a _useful_ exercise. Teams RWBY and CFVY had been given military style radios that weighed a ton, but contained machinery to direct bombs onto any target you cared to point your finger at. They had dug in at the regulation nine hundred meters distance from the target, which was fine for General Ironwood's bombs. Sadly, they had underestimated exactly how much ammunition the White Fang had. Obviously, they had big plans, involving a big, _big_ boom.

Fox slowly turned his head this way and that, listening carefully for any noise Velvet might make. He sadly shook his head.

"Keep going," said Coco.

 

Velvet turned her head. From under her briar patch, she could see a pack of maybe five Beowolves trotting by. One of them halted, sniffed the air, but Velvet was downwind from them. They couldn't smell her. Then, there was a big snort. Close enough for Velvet to see every hair on his body, an Ursa walked by her hiding place. He turned and looked at her. Velvet lay as still as she could, and hoped this was the kind of Ursa that didn't eat carrion. She didn't have much of a choice. Playing dead was all she could do, and pretty soon, she wouldn't be playing, and nothing would matter anymore. The Ursa made a noise in his throat, and lumbered off after the Beowolves. Maybe there was a barbecue somewhere, and roasted meat was better than raw rabbit. Especially if you had to stick your nose in among the thorns to get it.

Velvet blinked slowly. "Please Fox, don't throw me in the briar patch," she said, and chuckled in her stomach. Ow... that hurt.

Velvet slowed down her breath, waiting for the pain to go away. She closed her eyes. Time for a sleep.

 

"RWBY four calling Sparrow seven, RWBY four calling Sparrow seven." Yang looked up, but she couldn't see the bullhead aircraft, which was possibly miles away.

"This is Sparrow seven, send it."

"Searched sector three alpha. Nothing found, over."

"Solid copy. Proceed to four alpha. Be advised, sensors show Grimm activity near your location. Two packs of six. Don't let them eat you."

"Thanks, Sparrow. RWBY four out."

Blake looked at Yang, silently asking. Yang shook her head. Neither of them knew Velvet all that well, but she was a friendly face in Professor Port's classes, always ready for a little chat, even to lowly first-years like them. She was always being picked on by boys bigger and stronger than her. Rabbit Faunus had to have it worst of all. Prey animals. Blake had the characteristics of a cat, and anyone giving her a hard time about it quickly learnt that Cat Faunus had their sharp sides. Yang put away the horn, and hefted the radio on her back.

"Come on. Next sector."

 

Velvet lay still, drifting in and out of consciousness till she couldn't tell what she was dreaming and what was real. What was 'real' anyway? Did it mean having a beating heart inside you, or was it a thing that happened to you? It had to mean having people who love you. And sometimes, it hurt. People laughing at her, pulling her ears. She dreamt, or saw, her friends walking past, Coco in front with her steps that told the world she owned it. Fox, the handsome brown-skinned man who had suffered so much and still hadn't lost his faith in people. Yatsuhashi, a giant made of stone, strong, indestructible, protecting her. In her mind, Velvet waved at them, and they smiled at her. She looked up again, and found the stars that had burnt brightly now burned pale. How could that be? Velvet felt like she was floating, like she was drifting down a river on her back. She would never see her friends again. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Where it fell to the ground, a single flower grew.

 

"I've got her! Sparrow seven, Sparrow seven! I've found her!" Yang shouted into the receiver. "Our location!" Yang looked at Velvet's face as Blake chopped the thorny briars away with her Gambol Shroud.

" _Hurry!_ "

 

Velvet woke up. Her nose twitched at the smell of disinfectant. Nearby, there was a beeping noise, going on and on. She opened her eyes, and the world was white. She was warm. The sun was shining through the drawn curtains, creating a bright beam of light on the floor. Someone was holding her hand. Next to her bed, Coco was sitting on a chair. Her head lay in Velvet's lap and she was fast asleep. Velvet still felt like her head was filled with cotton wool, but it was a different feeling than dying. When she tried, she could move her arm to put her hand on Coco's brown hair. Coco gave a startled snort, shook her head and looked up.

"You're awake!"

"Coco?" Velvet blinked slowly, as the rest of her team came walking in and gathered round her bed.

"Am I real?"

Coco adjusted her sunglasses and rubbed her cheek.

"Yes sweetie. You are. You're the realest girl in the world!"

**Author's Note:**

> Answers:
> 
> Richard Adams - Watership Down - Elil, the Thousand, the real tear that grows a flower.  
> Terry Pratchett - The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents / "Mr. Bunnsy has an adventure" - Full of lettuces.  
> Sam McBratney, Anita Jeram - Guess how much I love you - "Right up to the moon and back"  
> Traditional, Robert Roosevelt, Joel Chandler Harris, Alcée Fortier - Br'er Rabbit - "Fox, Don't throw me into the briar", Hounds and a bear going to a barbecue.  
> Simon & Garfunkel - "Bright Eyes" from the Watership Down movie - How can the light that burnt so brightly suddenly burn so pale? Following the River of Death downstream.
> 
> And of course the Velveteen Rabbit. How could I forget?


End file.
